Andy Pages has had better weeks as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Friday marked the first loss of the Dodgers’ young season, despite a two-run shot from Tommy Edman in the ninth inning making the final score 2-3. In that matchup, manager Dave Roberts noticed a fundamental error Pages made.
In the sixth inning, Pages was caught in a pickle that resulted in a successful pickoff from the pitcher.
“As a young player, you still got to play the game the right way,” Roberts said. “He was doubled off a couple games ago. And this one, you go and you stop — you just can’t. … Gotta eliminate those outs on the bases.”
The intangibles of the game are not just important in the majors, but on a team like the Dodgers that has talent in all corners of the roster, it is more important than ever to ensure fundamentals are up to the high standard this team has set.
The most recent loss on Sunday came with another Pages mistake, but this time defensively.
While up 7-6, the 24-year-old misjudged a fly ball in the gloomy Philadelphia sky that went over his head in the seventh inning to start the Phillies’ rally. The Dodgers got out of that inning down 7-8 and never recovered.
Roberts spoke on the blunder post game.
“He took a bad read. It was a line drive, hit hard. I think he broke in and then broke towards right field, and at that point in time he was beat by the baseball. It was just a tough read.”
In 10 games this season, Pages only has three hits and has struck out 13 times. His abysmal .100 batting average begs the question of if the Dodgers should look elsewhere for center fielding options.
